Randomosity (And Guitars) Abounds

The PopCulteer
October 7, 2011

Your PopCulteer has been swamped a bit this week, and has not had time to finish reading the first month's worth of DC's "New 52." The plan is to wrap this up with a long column next week, two weeks into the second month for some of these books. This week we're going to fire off some random items, including a photo essay on last Monday's Taylor Guitar Roadshow at Route 60 Music in Barboursville.

Just One More

Around a hundred guitar aficianados made a pilgrimage to Route 60 Music in Barboursville last Monday evening for a Taylor Guitars Roadshow. Dozens of the latest Taylor Guitars--a high-end company manufacturng some of the finest instrements on the market--were on display, as Taylor rep, Zacher Arntz and master musician Wayne Johnson (The Manhattan Transfer, Bette Midler) showed off and demonstrated the latest in Taylor Guitar wizardry. It was an informatie and educational night, as Johnson explained in great detail the advantages and uses of each model of Taylor's guitars.

Let's look at some photos, shall we?

[caption id="attachment_6707" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The crowd gathers in anticipation at the coming guitar lust"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6708" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Arntz (right) looks on as Johnson explains the merits of the guitar he's holding"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6709" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Arntz shows off a special demo guitar, which was passed around so the crowd could see the finely-detailed geetar innards"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6710" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Comparing the different woods available on each model"][/caption]

The real highlight for many of the guitarists in attendance was the chance to storm the stage during a break and get their hands on a Taylor to play.



[caption id="attachment_6717" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="A large, happy collection of guitar enthusiasts had a wonderful time at Route 60 Music"][/caption]

The Big Story

Fans and users of Apple computers and other personal electronics products were saddened this week by the not-unexpected passing of Steve Jobs, the company's head honcho for the last several years. Jobs had battled cancer for some time and stepped down from his role as CEO over the summer. While I understand having a sense of loss when somebody whose work you admire passes away, the outpouring of grief is starting to border on the ridiculous.

Many obituaries are gving the man credit for work done by other people, such as Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak and Pixar's founder, George Lucas, plus Pixar's creative genius, John Lasseter. Jobs was a brilliant marketer, and the reaction to his death proves just how talented he was at selling the concept of Steve Jobs.

Jobs is not being given enough credit for being the P.T. Barnum of his day. There was real genius in the work of Jobs, but not the genius that Apple users think there was.

But it's not like he was Akio Morita or anything.

Occupational Hazards

After ignoring the story for two weeks, the media finally started paying attention to "Occupy Wall Street." This is the real grass-roots protest movement, not the Koch-Brothers-financed Tea Party. It's going to be fun to see how this gets spun. It's funny how cable news channels, who send camera crews out to Tea Party rallies that draw a dozen people, managed not to show hundreds of thousands of protesters on Wall Street until after videos of police violence turned up on YouTube. Local rallies are planned.

We Have A New Governor

Congratulations go out to Earl Ray Tomblin, who finally gets to drop the word "acting" from his official title. Mr. Governor, please tear down those robocalling machines. You didn't really need to fill up my answering machine every day.

Of course the big winner last Tuesday was the citizens of West Virginia, who will get a few months respite from badly-animated commercials filled with greyhounds.

Walking Dead Returns

Sunday, October 16 at 9 PM, last year's breakout hit returns to AMC with a 90-minute season premiere. It'll be interesting to see if the producers maintain the high quality of the first season with all the behind-the-scenes turmoil that's been going on. The budget has been cut, the show-runner let go, and the writing staff replaced with free-lancers. There's a lot of anxious anticipation for this one. Meanwhile, check out the web-only prequel about "Bicycle Girl" from the first season.

Radio Free Charleston

Our local music show returns next week with an extra-long episode packed with freshly-picked new music. In the meantime, check out our Facebook Page to keep up with the latest inside scoop on the RFC crowd.

That's it for this week. Sorry for the short column, but life, and Martin Scorsese's two-part HBO documentary on George Harrison beckoned. Keep reading the PopCult and we'll keep filling it up with new stuff.